A man who stole nearly £1m from children’s cancer charities, including one he set up to help his own son, was jailed for five years today.

Kevin Wright was convicted of 10 counts of theft and two of fraud by false representation at an earlier hearing at Nottingham Crown Court. Jurors heard that significant sums of money were donated to the appeals Wright set up, but that little of the cash went towards treatment.

Instead, the money was spent on covering the charity overheads and funding Wright’s “interests, investments and personal lifestyle”.

Sentencing the 50-year-old at Nottingham Crown Court, Judge Gregory Dickinson said: “I believe you have a genuine desire to help families in the same position – however that does not fully explain your actions.”

The judge added that most of the money went on running the appeals and to fund Wright’s lifestyle. Judge Dickinson added: “You abused the generosity of the public. Your actions risked damaging the confidence in the system of charitable giving.”